A Week in Photos from the Garden Bloggers Conference February 25th - 27th

This past week I spent a few days in Atlanta at the Garden Bloggers Conference. I was so honored to have been asked to speak at the conference, sharing a stage with the likes of Nate Berkus, Bunny Williams, Sara Bendrick from DIY Network's I Hate my Yard, Rochelle Greayer author of Cultivating Garden Style and Brett Vankoski, the founder of the wine enterprise Ninety+ Cellars (yes there was wine served during that segment!) along with so many other great speakers and bloggers.

I was excited to be 'dressed' for the conference by Duluth Trading Company. They sent me a bunch of their clothing to wear while I was there (thank you SO much Duluth Trading!) including a pair of their super comfy Andina Mules (I wore them on the plane there and logged nearly 8,000 steps with them the first day - mostly trekking through the airport! - and I totally recommend them for air travel since they slip right off and are so comfortable) and this super cute Chambray Tunic that I wore to speak.

I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead and was treated like a VIP. Check out the TV screen that greeted me as I entered the suite (yup, I said suite .... it was like a mini apartment!)

I had a wonderful time in Atlanta eating good food, drinking fine wine, mingling and taking selfies (there were LOTS of selifes taken by everyone involved!) with the other speakers, bloggers and various conference sponsors over the course of the conference. It was a networking dream and I took full advantage, meeting and trading business cards with lots of great people. As a result, I hope to bring you all some neat products and giveaways from some new sponsors in the near future.

-Bunny Williams and me-

I think the highlight for me was having my photo taken with Bunny Williams. I have serious coop envy and told her so! In fact, I think I might have asked her publicist if I could move into her coop. (True story, but I blame it all on the wine!) Anyway, if you aren't familiar with Bunny Williams chicken coop, Google it. Trust me. You need to. Anyway, apparently they didn't think I was completely off my rocker. Bunny was very gracious, and I was asked to review her new book, On Garden Style, a re-release of the original she wrote in 1998 which has been out of print for some time.

But the focus of the conference was blogging, social media, and building your 'brand' - and I took away so many great tips and pointers that I hope will help make me an even better blogger, and make my blog even more enjoyable for you all to read. Oh, and the swag bag wasn't half bad either! Anyway, it was an awesome conference. Enjoy some photos from my trip ( I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the photos - again, I blame it on the wine)

-Duluth Trading mules - my choice for travel!-

-See the hearts in the snow on the tarmac?-

- Leaving Norfolk -

-conference agenda in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt Buckhead_

-Thrilled to be on the cover of the conference brochure with Bunny Williams, Shawna Coronado and Marcus Sheridan-

Same here! I need to link up to you here and elsewhere online. I don't know, someone had a bag of them and was handing them out! I am still annoyed I skipped the Sunbrella event the first night and missed out on the cool tote bag!

My tote bag weighed about 50 pounds yesterday as I was hauling it and all my swag through the Atlanta and Chicago airports, so maybe it was best I didn't have the added weight of a coffee mug. I did snag a Duluth Trading Company shirt, but my Benjamin Moore cookie didn't make it past about 10:00 Thursday morning! :) And thank you for the follow!

Wow Lisa! You were two hours away from us. We live in the uppermost part of GA, Right across the street from the GA/NC state line. You were so near and yet so far away! Congratulations on all of your successes. Looking forward to viewing new lessons on gardening. <3